Cushioned folding carton



United States Patent [72] Inventor John S. Troth Greenvllle, Delaware[2]] Appl. No. 721,452 [22] Filed April 15, 1968 s, [45] Patented Nov.24,1970 [73] Assignee Potlatch Forests, Inc.

Chicago, Illinois a corporation of Delaware. by mesne assignments to TheFinn Industries Division [54] CUSIIIONED FOLDING CARTON 4 Claims, 4Drawing Figs. I

52 US. Cl 229/58, 229/14: 206/46 [51] Int. Cl B65d 5/08, 865d 5/56, B65d25/14 [50] Field ofSearch 229/14C, 14H: 206/46(Fiem). 51D

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,601,547 9/1926 Wofford229/14(C)UX 2,087,966 7/1937 Clark 229/14(H) 2,484,608 10/1949 Cheyneyet a1. 229/14(H) 11/1965 France Primary Examiner- Davis T. MoorheadAttorney Dominik, Knechtel & Godula ABSTRACT: A flat-foldable cartonwith a foamed elastomeric resin sheefon the inside surface to providecushioning for an article deposited within the formed carton, and toalso provide a frictional surface against rotation and lateraldisplacement of the carton. The resin sheet is substantially of uniformthickness, but is relatively thin. The sheet is preferably disposedalong less than the total side wall area of the carton while stillproviding effective contact with the deposited article. The resin sheetis bonded to the inside surface ofa carton blank in an improved way byproviding the resin sheet with a laminated paper backing.

Patentd Nov. 24, 1970 orn e146 1 CUSHIONED FOLDING CARTON This inventionrelates to cartons for packaging articles, in particular, to cartonsintended for packaging articles which are to be cushioned within thepackage.

The packaging art has long provided cushioning means for certain typesofarticles, such as bottles. Such means have principally taken the form ofa fluted paper board cylinder which is placed within the carton, orwhich is first mounted around an article and then deposited in thecarton. It is recognizcd that such cylinders lead to significant costincreases when considering the large production runs of cartons. It isalso recognized that such fluted cylinders do no solve all the problemswhich may arise in a particular cushioning project. Such cylindersprovide fairly effective cushioning against transverse shocks but do notcontribute in any way towards resisting lateral displacement of anarticle in the carton. Such a displacement is in a direction between thetop and bottom of the carton, or along the lateral or side walls of thecarton.

Certain cushioning problems may include considerations of cushioning thetop and bottom of an article within the carton, and the fluted cylindersare not adequate for such purposes. Fillers such as batting have alsobeen used to provide cushioning to the effective contact area of anarticle, but suchmeans also may lead to disadvantages of cost, as wellas requiring more cumbersome methods in completing assembly of thepackage.

Accordingly, it is one object of the present invention to provide animproved cushioning for the interior of cartons in which an article isnot only cushioned against transverse shocks, but which additionally isrestrained against moderate tendencies of rotation and lateraldisplacement.

Still another object of the invention is an improved cushioning for aCarton which additionally provides an effective frictional surface toresist rotation of an article, and to likewise resist lateraldisplacement ofthc article.

Yet another object of the invention is an effective cushioning means ofthe type indicated which allows substantial savings in paper board to berealized. A feature ofthe object is to provide less costly materialsthan paper board while still enjoying the desired cushioning advantages,as well as still other advantages.

Still another object of the invention is the provision of a foamedpolyurethane sheet which is bonded to the inside surfaces of the lateralwalls of the carton, but which sheet may have an area less than thetotal area of the inside of the lateral walls. A feature of this objectis to realize economies in the size of the foamed sheet which is bonded,while still attaining an effective contact area for cushioning and forfrictional contact with the article.

A further object of the invention is a cushioned carton of the foregoingtype in which a foamed polyurethane sheet is FIG. 2 is a sectional viewon a slightly enlarged scale taken through a plane which is parallel tothe top and bottom of the carton of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view on a still further enlarged scale I andthrough a plane similar to that of FIG. 2, but showing only afragmentary portion, including an article within the carton; and

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a blank of sheet material, with the cushioningmeans, from which the carton is formed.

The use of the same reference numerals will indicate a reference to thesame parts in the several views of the drawings.

- Referring now to the drawings, in FIG. 1 there is shown a formedcarton 10 having continuous side walls indicated at 12. and a selflocking bottom indicated generally at 14. The cushioning means withinthe carton are shown by dotted line at 16. The particular constructionof certain features of the carton, such as the top and bottom closures,are not essential to an understanding or to the practices of theinvention, and reference will be made to such features only to betterunderstand the context or environment of the invention.

Reference is now made to the blank material of FIG. 4

' which shows the inside surfaces of the blank, and which will preformedand then bonded to the inside lateral walls of the carton, as a unitarysheet or as a plurality of strips, in an economical and improved way torealize still further advantages in the formed cushioned carton.

A still further object of the invention is to attain improvements andadvantages which flow from the combination of a uniformly thin foamedpolyurethane sheet which is bonded to a supporting and more or lessstiff paper board of a carton. In particular. such object is concernedwith the supporting walls of the carton cooperating with the foamedpolyurethane sheet to enhance the frictional properties of said sheet.

Other objects of the invention will become apparent and will occur topractitioners in considering the following disclosure.

For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention,reference should be had to the following detailed description, taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a carton in which the cushioning meansare indicated in dotted line, said carton being an embodimentconstructed in accordance with the present invention;

form the interior of the formed carton of FIG. 1. The blank is a singlesheet of. material in generally rectangular form. It includes fourmutually paired lateral or side walls 18, 20, 22, and 24. The lateralwalls are separated from one another by creases or score marks 26, 28,and 30. The foregoing vertical score marks are disposed at a normalrelation to horizontal score marks or creases such as 32 at the bottomof the blank, and 34 and 36 at the top of the blank. It will be seenthat the vertical creases such as 30 are wider or are of greater sizethan the horizontal creases such as 32. The reason for this differencewill be later apparent.

Three top closure flaps are shown along the top edge of the blank, andthey include side flaps 38 and 40 extending, respectively, from sidewalls 18 and 22; and a closing flap 42 extending from side wall 24. Flap42 will overlap side flaps 38 and 40 when the top closure is formed, andlip 44 may then be tucked in between the top of side wall 20 and thefronts of the side flaps in the usual way. A glue flap 46 extends fromthe terminating side edge of one remote or terminating side wall 24. Theside not shown of the glue flap 46 is provided with an ad hesive, andsuch side may then be placed in face to face engagement with the sideportion 48 at the remote edge of the other remote or terminating sidewall 18 to form continuous sides 12 of the carton.

Each side wall has a bottom closure flap extending from the bottom edgedefined by the horizontal score line 32. Bottom closure flaps 50 and 52have similar configuration in the shape of truncated pyramids. Theseflaps extend from side walls 18 and-22 which confront each other or areparallel to each other in the formed carton. Bottom closure flaps 54 and56 have similar configurations, and each flap may be viewed as having atab portion such as 58 and 60, which tab portions are demarcated fromthe remaining portions of the flaps by a scored or perforated line 62and 64. The scored lines 62 and 64 are disposed as diagonals whichextend from the corner of the flaps to the ends of connecting straightedges 66 and 68 between the two portions ofthe flaps 54 and 56.

When the glue flap 46 is bonded to the inside portion 48 of sidewall 18,the carton will be folded flat. ln that position, the inside of tabportion 60 will be bonded to the outside of flap 52 so that edge 70 isgenerally alined with score line 32. The inside of tab portion 58 willbe likewise bonded to the outside of flap 50. In the fully flattenedposition, the outside surfaces or faces of tab portions 58 and 60 willbe in face to face contact. By applying force to the remote side edgesof the folded carton, it will be erected or opened, as shown in FIG. 1.When the carton is so opened, the outside of the remaining portion offlap 54 will be moved against the inside of flap 52 so that edge 72 offlap 54 becomes generally alined with horizontal score line 32.Accordingly, the bottom closure flaps are selffaces of the lateral'walls18-24.

forming to assume the position shown in FIG. 1 when the carton isopened.

The cushioning means 16 is shown bonded to the inside sur- Such meansare foamed elastomeric sheets of substantially uniform thickness, whichadditionally present a frictional surface to be engaged by the articledeposited in the carton. The sheet is shown herein as being elongatedwith opposite side edges 74 and 76being normal to the longitudinal axisof the sheet, and opposite top and bottom edges 78 and 80 being parallelto said longitudinal axis. A foamed polyurethane sheet has superiorelastomeric properties, and its face which is exposed to the interior ofthe carton, presents a frictional surface as a result of the aggregateof small pores of varying size, a portion whereof is diagrammaticailyindicated at 82. Such a frictional surface tends to resist the rotationof an article deposited within the carton. and

also tends to resist the lateral displacement of the article. that is,in a direction from the top to the bottom of the carton. The foamedpolyurethane sheet is therefore seen to possess particularly desirableproperties of an elastomer for cushioning against transverse shocks andof a frictional body to counter any rotational or lateral movements ofan article within the container.

it is seen that the foamed sheet is a unitary material. When the sheetis bonded to theinside of the side walls, the opposite sides 74 and 76terminate short of the adjoining edges of, respectively, side wall 18and'glue flap 46. A clearance is thus provided for the overlap of theglue flap with a remote side wall. The unitary or integral formedpolyurethane sheet therefore provides a substantially continuouscushioned and frictional surface in the opened carton. This is also seenin the plan view of FIG. 2 where the continuity ofthe cushioned surfaceis interrupted only by the small gap between adjoining edges 74 and 76of the foamed sheet. The gap may be very small or essentiallynonexisting if the edges 74 and 76 abut. The continuous sheet providesan effective contact area for deposited articles of various shapes, suchas the cylindrical article indicated in phantom at 84 in FIG. 2. Thefoamed sheet may be modified as by providing a cutout in the sheet whichmay be registered with a like cutout in a lateral wall such registeredcutouts indicated in phantom at 85 in FIG. 4. The cutouts are coveredwith a transparent plastic film to provide a window in a carton.

It is an advantage of the invention that the effective contact area ofthe foamed sheet is obtained without requiring such sheet to cover theentire inside area of the lateral walls. The total area of the foamedsheet is less than the total area of the lateral walls as shown by topedge 78 terminating short of the top edge of the lateral walls as markedby score lines 34, 36; and the bottom edge 80 terminating short of thebottom edge of the lateral walls, as marked by score line 32. It hasbeen found that such a limited area of the foamed sheet, relative to thearea of the lateral walls, provides an effective contact area forcushioning and for frictional contact for a wide variety of articlesdeposited in the carton. The reduced area of the foamed sheet results inan added economic attraction of the invention.

The foamed polyurethane sheet is applied to the lateral walls of theblank in an improved way by employing conventional window machines, suchas the Stoude Gladiator type window machine. Rolls of the foamed sheetmay be fed into the window machine, and such sheets are then bonded tothe carton blank with conventional paper board adhesives.

.To utilize the full advantage of the window machine for suchapplications, it has been found to be a marked advantage tp provide thecushioning material as a laminar structure in which paper backing, suchas Kraft paper, is laminated to and is coextensive the foamedpolyurethane sheet. The paper backing is laminated to the foamed sheetby means of bonding agents which are known to operate with foamedpolyurethane resins. Rolls of the foamed polyurethane sheets with thepaper backing may than be delivered to the window machine where sheetsof desired length are cut before passing through the adhesive applicatorof the window machine. Glue or adhesive is rolled onto the paper backingat room temperature, and the strip or sheet is applied by contacting thepaper backing with the inside surface of the blank, which preferably isuncoated paper board. The provision of the paper backing leads to afurther advantage in that the paper functions in the nature ofa blotteralong its marginal edges to soak up glue or adhesive so that undesirablespreading of the adhesive beyond the marginal edge of the foamed sheetis substantially eliminated.

The paper backing is indicated at 86in the turned-back corner of thelaminar-structure in H6. 4. The glue or adhesive is indicated at 88. Thepaper backing allows the laminar structure to be successfully applied bythe window machine in the manner described. The reasons for thesuccessful operation of the method include the provision of a paper toboard bonding situs which allows conventional bonding and rapid bonding.Without the paper backing, the adhesive cure time in the window machinewould generally be too short to effect a direct bonding of the foamedsheet to the board. Another reason for the successful operation of themethod is the added body imparted to the foamed sheet by the paperbacking. This is required to allow the window machine to effectivelyhandle the laminar roll for cutting, adhesive application, and boardapplication. The method also permits inspection of the laminar rolls andthe carton blanks before the application of the strips or sheets to theboard. Any defective laminar material or misalinement may be observedand corrected before a substantial number of carton blanks are spoiled.

- A foamed polyurethane sheet bonded to the carton blank does notrequire any scoring or the like to facilitate erection or opening of thecarton, or folding thereof. The foamed sheet is flexible and elastomericand, therefore, accommodates easily to folding of the carton. The foamedsheet does, however, present a certain amount of bulk volume. Anaccommodation is made to these features by providing wider verticalcreases or score lines 26-30. The conventional horizontal score lines32, 34, and 36 have a width about two t mes the thickness of the boardwhich is used, but the foregoing vertical score lines are provided witha width about three times the thickness of the board which is used. Sucha one-fold increase in the crease is sufficient to allow efficientfolding ofthe foamed sheet.

The thickness of the foamed polyurethane sheet may be somewhat varied tomeet different cushioning problems for different articles. it ispreferred, however, to keep the sheet fairly thin so that the method ofapplication in the window machine is not adversely affected, and so thatmore board material is not required for articles of a given dimension.It has been found that the foamed polyurethane sheet or the laminarstructure, may be substantially as thick as the board, or it may have apreferred maximum thickness about two to three times the thickness ofthe board.

Efficient frictional action is obtained from the rough surface of thefoamed sheet, especially as enhanced by the combination of therelatively thin foamed sheet and the relatively stiff supporting boardof the carton. It is believed that when the board supports therelatively thin foamed sheet, or laminar, the frictional resistance torotational and lateral displacement is improved. The relatively stiffboard imparts body to the sheet so that both the board and the roughsurface of the polyurethane sheet contribute to attaining effectivefrictional resistance. This is indicated in the view of FIG. 3 where thearcuate section 88 represents a portion of a continuous wall of abottle. A portion of the foamed polyurethane sheet is shown at 90, thelaminated paper backing is shown at 92, and a portion of the paper boardcarton is shown at 94. The wall of the bottle has depressed the sheet sothat the stiffness of the board gives support to the compressed area ofpolyurethane resin between the bottle and the board.

Foamed polyurethane sheets which are useful for this invention may bemade by skills well known in that art. A foamed sheet which issuccessfully used is a fine-pore, flexible polyester, polyurethane foamsupplied by the Scott Paper Company under the trade designation of ScottStandard Foam. Such foams are availablein thickness of aboutone-sixteenth inch, and even thinnenAlth'ough the polyurethane foamedsheet has marked advantages, other foamed elastomeric resin sheets maybe used such as polystyrene, polyethylene, vinyl chlorides and the like.Also, foamed natural and synthetic rubber may be employed.

The resistance to rotational movement or displacement is particularlydesirable to assure orientation of an article in the cartonf Forexample, it may be desirable to allow a user to withdraw an article fromthe carton with the label disposed towards the user. Lateraldisplacement couldlead to objec tionable dislodging of the top or bottomclosures of the carton. Orientation is also desirable for cartons havingwindows such as the one indicated in phantom at 85. A bottle .will bedeposited so a label on the bottle can be oriented with respect to sucha window.

While a unitary foamed elastomeric sheet is used to advantage, aplurality of foamed strips may be used such as shown in phantom lines at87 and 89 in FIG. 4. Such spaced strips lead to even further savings ofthe foamed sheet while still providing effective contact area forcushioning and for frictional contact. Two or more of such strips areparallel to one another and have long axes which are normal to the longaxis of the lateral walls.

One of the additional advantages of the cushioned carton is that it canbe manufactured more economically than a carton with a fluted cylinderwrapper. The more economical production is due to reduction of paperboard material per given article or bottle size. The completeelimination of the fluted board cylinder, or other cushioning boardorfiller, leads to great savings in production runs. The cost of formingand applying the cushioned laminar of this invention does not set offthe substantial savings realized in reducing the board requirements.

lt will thus be seen that the objects set forth above, among those madeapparent from the preceding description, are efficiently attained and,since certain changes may be made in the above construction withoutdeparting from the scope of the invention, it is intended that allmatter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanyingdrawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limitingsense.

it is also to be understood that the following claims are intended tocover all of the generic and specific features of the invention hereindescribed, and all statements of the scope ofthe invention, which, as amatter language, might be said to fall therebetween.

'1 claim:

,1. A flat-foldable carton of paper board material having four lateralwalls mutually paired with upright vertical score lines:

a glue flap extending from a terminating side of one remote lateralwall, the outside surfaces of said walls adapted to form the exteriorofthe formed carton and the inside sur- I faces of said walls adapted toform the interior of said carton. said lateral walls having top andbottom horizontal score lines and closure flaps at their opposite endsto form the top and bottom closures of said carton;

cushioning and friction means within said carton including a prefoamedpolyurethaneelastomeric sheet having a frictional surface and having asubstantially uniform thickness, said prefoamed polyurethane sheet beingpresent as apart of a laminar structure, said structure comprising alaminated paper backing coextensive with said prefoamed sheet and bondedthereto by a polyurethane adhesive material, and said paper backing ofthe laminar structure being directly bonded to the inside surfaces ofsaid lateral walls by conventional paper board adhe'sives, said laminarstructure having an elongated axis parallel to the top and bottomhorizontal score lines, opposite top and bottom edges parallel to saidelongated axis, and opposite side edges normal to said top and bottomedges and parallel to a short axis of the laminar structure, said topand bottom edges terminatin short of their respective horizontal scorelines to obtain a ammar structure having a total area less than a totalarea of the lateral side walls, a side edge of said laminar structureterminating short of said glue flap, a side portion of the laminarstructure joining the remote edge of the other remote lateral wall, theopposite side edge of the laminar structure terminating short of saidside portion, the outside of said glue flap adapted to be placed in faceto face contact with the inside of said side portion, a paper boardadhesive between said contacted faces, said face to face contact furtheradjoining opposite side edges of the lan' inar structure; whereby saidthin elastomeric sheet presents a substantially continuous cushioningand frictional surface which is interrupted only by said adjoiningedges.

2. A flat-foldable carton of stiff paper board material having fourlateral walls mutually paired with upright vertical score lines:

a glue flap extending from a terminating side of one remote lateralwall, top and bottom horizontal score lines and closure flaps at theopposite ends of said lateral walls to form top and bottom closures; v

cushioning and friction means within said carton including a relativelythin elastomeric sheet having a substantially uniform thickness, whichsheet is bonded to the inside surfaces of said walls, one side edge ofsaid elastomeric sheet terminating short of said glue flap and theopposite side edge of said elastomeric sheet terminating short of theoppositely remote lateral wall edge, said elastomeric sheet having .athickness no greater than about three times the thickness of the lateralcarton walls; and

said elastomeric sheet being prefoamed and bonded to the lateral cartonwalls so that the erected carton provides a substantially continuouscushion within the carton for deposited articles, which elastomericsheet further tends to resist rotational displacement of the depositedarticles by the stiff paper board material of the carton walls providinga support for said cushion and imparting rigidity to said cushion toenhance frictional engagement.

3. A flat-foldable carton as in claim 2, wherein said elastomeric sheetis a part of a laminar structure which includes a paper backinglaminated to and coextensive with said sheet, said paper backing beingbonded to said foamed sheet and being further bonded to said foamedsheet and being further bonded to the inside surfaces of the stiff paperboard material of said carton lateral walls.

4. A flat-foldable carton as in claim 2 wherein said foamed elastomericsheet is polyurethane.

